Thanksgiving remains one of my favorite holidays of the year; I look forward to it almost as much as I do for that first glimpse of spring, when things begin to bloom and I know that Frederick Fence will be gearing up for our peak installation season.

One reason why I enjoy this time of year so much is because I so value taking time out of my life to reflect on where I’ve been, how Frederick Fence has changed, and how much it means to me to know that what started nearly 35 years ago, in a small trailer, has evolved into a dream come true—a flourishing small business!

Thankful for You

I cannot say how thankful I am that so many homeowners chose Frederick Fence as their partner of choice in building a border for their homes and establishments.  It means a lot that you selected our company to enhance your dream of home ownership and allowed us to place a fence around your home.  Whether it was for security, privacy or establishing a boundary for your property, nothing humbles me more than seeing that little red and yellow sign that tells me you’ve made Frederick Fence a part of your lives.

The same goes for the many commercial businesses, local and state governments, non-profit organization and housing developments that we’ve served over the years.  What I appreciate most about our business customers is that many of them started off as residential owners who appreciated our handiwork and called us when it was time to support their business ventures.  Another thing I am thankful for is that a lot of our commercial accounts came to us by sheer word of mouth—and that means more to me than any money you could ever spend on an advertising campaign.

If you’ve ever visited our About page, you’ll know that our core values are Family, Integrity and Loyalty.  I believe it’s those values that have allowed us to thrive for these past 35 years.  And I’m thankful that for most of our history, we’ve achieved our success through our quality craftsmanship, excellent word of mouth and our amazing team.

Thankful for My Crew

Truly, I would not be writing this today if it were not for my amazing crew—the folks who go out and install the fences.  Year after year, we’ve had some highly consistent folks who have shown up each day to go out and build some truly great fences.  What impresses me most is that they dedicate themselves to each project with the same rigor and care when it comes to construction.  Even if it’s a repair job, I know our crew does a great job.  This, for the most part, is due to my installation manager Eric Saum and operations manager Jon Wisner.  I cannot say how thankful I am that we’ve all been friends for most of my life.

Thankful for My Sales and Office Staff

I can take credit for starting Frederick Fence, but the fantastic folks who make up our sales and office staff remain my true heroes—they’ve helped bring in a lot of business and have weathered through many a lean season as the economy shifted over the years.  Not many companies can boast the kind of tenure we’ve had among our sales team.  Many of you ought to be familiar with two of our finest sales professionals—Louise Barnard and Doug Martin—as they’ve been here for most of our existence.  The same holds true with Kathy Crum—our office manager.  In many ways, Kathy has been one of my closest confidants.  I always trust and value her opinion and she keeps me honest on my worst days!

This year, I’m truly thankful for our current sales manager, Neil Forthman.  We hired Neil for his depth of knowledge in both fence and salesmanship.  He’s truly an asset to our organization and helped lead his team to produce one of our highest grossing seasons.  He’s extremely customer-focused and highly patient—he’s helped some of our newest folks learn the fence industry rapidly while also being there to address our customers’ questions and concerns.  Thanks, Neil!

Thankful for Family

Finally, I am thankful for my family.  I’ve got a truly wonderful wife and three children—all with some great spouses who have given me some amazing grandchildren.  I am thankful for their health and well-being, but what gives me the greatest joy is knowing that each of my children have chosen to be part of the next generation of Frederick Fence leadership.  My daughters—Erin and Kelly—and my son—Todd—make me proud every day.  They were given complete freedom to choose their vocation in life and all three made the decision to remain with Frederick Fence.

As I look forward to more time with my grandchildren and wife, I know that Frederick Fence will continue to succeed.  I am most proud that all my children have embraced my work ethic and I marvel at how they remain equally devoted to taking great care of our staff and crew as they do our many clients.

I don’t know that I’ll ever fully retire, but I am thankful that I can trust my family and our amazing employees to always do their very best to make Frederick Fence a great place to work and the right choice for our customers.

Once again, thank you, friends, for joining us here online and for letting us take good care of you over the years.  May you and your family and friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration and may you have a joyful holiday season!

“The folks I am most thankful for: my children and their families!”